Metz Fashion Design Finalists Win Fieldtrip to Dior Exhibit

More than 100 students in levels three, four and five at Metz Elementary submitted artwork for a unique challenge that encouraged them to awaken their inner fashion designer. Metz used a Project Runway-style quick challenge where artists were given 25 minutes to create one to two looks using various 2D and 3D materials. Students received inspiration from Christian Dior couture fashions shows.

Metz solicited help from designer and social influencer, Mondo Guerra, who once attended Tennyson Knolls Elementary and Hodgkins Middle School to review the artwork that students submitted. Guerra’s innovative style and bold prints have caught the fashion world’s imagination, while his truth and courage captured the hearts of fans around the world when he first revealed his HIV+ status on Project Runway, Season 8. He later went on to win the debut season of Project Runway All Stars and became an audience favorite as a mentor on Lifetime’s spinoff series, Under The Gunn.

After reviewing 80 fashion designs, Guerra selected 30 finalists who won a trip to visit theDior: From Paris to the World exhibit at the Denver Art Museum. The exhibit displays a selection of more than 200 couture dresses, as well as accessories, costume jewelry, photographs, drawings, runway videos and other archival material. While on the field trip, students were exposed to the intricacies of the fashion industry and how many career opportunities were within it. They also had time to take in the exhibit and sketch the designs in their own personal sketchbook.

"Our students were in a constant state of awe as they explored the exhibit," said Metz principal, Claudette Trujillo. "They were oohing and awing at the sight of every garment and connecting their prior learning to the exhibit. They were hyper-focused and deeply immersing themselves into relevant and rigorous conversations sparked by fashion."

Click through the photo gallery above to get a glimpse at how these students spent their day admiring Christian Dior's designs.